cowl neck dress

You'll have to excuse me, I'm feeling a bit shy about this one.

My commitment to clearing my stash by August seems to be working. It's March and I've already got through more than half of them (mostly the smaller bits, but still). Among the used fabrics is about 1.5 metres of slinky navy jersey which I picked up during the month or so last year when I was attacking remnant bins like a crazy person. I'm fairly sure I didn't even know what to do with jersey at the time, but I bought it anyway, assuring myself that I would learn and one day this fabric would become something.

This fabric told me, in no uncertain terms, that it was a cowl neck dress. Whenever I considered making anything else from it, it rose up and told me, nope, that's not what I am. But since I didn't think I'd wear such a clingy dress, I didn't make one until I brought in my use-it-or-lose-it commitment. If all this fabric will agree to be is a cowl neck dress, and I have to chuck the fabric if I don't use it, I may as well make an experimental cowl neck dress and see if it has any place in my wardrobe.

I do not wear dresses like this, and I'm a bit nervous about putting pictures up. This kind of super-clingy thing has never been anywhere near my wardrobe, and I'm not used to the way I look in it. But I'm putting photos anyway, because my insecurities will not defeat me, dammit.

(My shorts are showing in several of these photos. I didn't realise that until I got them onto my computer, and it didn't seem worth going back out in the cold again to take more.)

This is the dress version of the Sew Over It cowl neck top that was my first ever attempt at using jersey, and it's a stupidly easy dress to make. Sew up shoulder, side and sleeve underarm seams, insert sleeves into dress, hem what needs to be hemmed, and boom. I would say this took me an hour at most. Of course, part of the reason it's so easy is that there's no fitting involved. The pattern is designed to be loose in the waist and tight over the hips, so when I hold my arms out I look like a giant pillow with a head (I did take a photo, but putting it on the internet was a bridge too far for my nervous self). I'd much rather have some waist definition, but I really don't think this dress would look right with a belt. 

Now the question: will I wear it? Probably not right now. It's not a great dress for someone who hates tummy cling, and I'm not a fan of the looser fit round the waist. I am considering taking it in a little bit at the waist to see if that makes it any more wearable, though that will probably make the tummy cling worse. Grrr. I definitely do like the slimmer silhouette of this dress, and even though I'm not quite comfortable in it yet I'm glad I used the fabric for this and not a floofy thing.

Bonus photo because I just really like how my face looks here: